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Medical questions & health advice by board certified doctors

"Are these symptoms of an ocular migraine?"

Question

Are the visual disturbances from an ocular migraine a continuous effect or has it been observed to happen in bursts, ie: a few seconds once every several minutes throughout the day?

Answer

An ocular migraine is a type of migraine in which visual disturbance are the only real symptom of the migraine. Typically, there is visual blurriness or another visual symptoms, which begins suddenly and lasts for twenty or thirty minutes prior to resolution. An ocular migraine should be distinguished from classic migraine with visual aura, in which typical visual disturbances like those above precede the onset of a severe pulsatile headache.
Having 'bursts' of visual symptoms lasting just a few seconds multiple times through out the day would not be typical of an ocular migraine, nor of migraine with visual aura. If you are having symptoms like this, then you should go see your eye doctor or a neurologist for help figuring out what is going on.
A full eye examination would be important, to make sure that the flashes of light or whichever other symptoms you are having are not related to a disease inside the eye, such as elevated eye pressures (also known as glaucoma). If the eye examination is negative, then a neurologist will be able to proceed with a workup for other causes of your symptoms.
Schedule a visit with your doctor as soon as you can.

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Zocdoc Answers is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor (in the United States) 911 immediately. Always seek the advice of your doctor before starting or changing treatment. Medical professionals who provide responses to health-related questions are intended third party beneficiaries with certain rights under Zocdoc’s Terms of Service.